Think of it As Tradition
by Red Car Wire
Summary: Fred Weasley and Katie Bell have been best mates on and off of the Quidditch pitch since her first year. After all, considering all the injuries she suffers from, someone has to take care of her. One-shot between the pair.


_Think of it As Tradition  
_by: Red Car Wire

A Fred Weasley/Katie Bell one-shot.

_"Another year,"_ thought Katie Bell as she pulled on her Quidditch gloves. _"Another year of long Quidditch practices with longer speeches, Alicia flirting with Oliver every second she is given, and more then my fair share of broken bones."_

The locker room was filled with her fellow teammates, all of them crowded onto the benches. Oliver stood in front of them all, pacing back and forth. "Okay team," he began, straightening up and staring at the six of them sitting on the benches. "This is our year, the year that we finally win the Cup. Now I know last year we had a few unfortunate incidents that prevented us from winning, but I think that we can-"

Oliver's speech droned on and on. Katie could see anything better to do other then look around at her teammates. Harry sat half asleep, his eyes falling closed only to jolt back open every few seconds. She felt herself suppress a giggle when Oliver glared down at their star seeker.

Fred and George were also on the border of slumber. Fred's head was beginning to fall off to the side and onto Katie's shoulder as Oliver droned on about Quidditch tactics, that this is there year, and so on. She silently wriggled herself away from Fred's head, which almost landed on the bench if he hadn't caught himself at the right time. Katie covered her mouth with her hand to stop another giggle as Fred gave her an amused smirk.

If there was anything she missed from Quidditch, it was the entertainment from Fred. After she'd end up with some injury, Fred always offered to take her up to the Hospital Wing, not that she'd ever object. He told her once that he saw Madam Pomfrey bring out a bedpan with her name engraved on the side of it after he brought her up for a broken jaw. Katie often blamed either one of the twins for her numerous injuries. They protested, saying she was barmy to think they would purposely harm her. She kept to her claim that if they weren't so thick in their heads she wouldn't be stuck in the Hospital Wing after every other practice.

It didn't matter to Fred, to just put a smile on her face was enough for him. If it meant that he had to break a few digits and knock out a few teeth to do so, he was fine with it. Fred would kid around a lot during their Quidditch practices, but during the games he was more than serious. He was very protective of his other teammates, as was George, and did everything he could to protect them from bludgers and the bulky, overly large members of the Slytherin team. Mainly, he'd try to protect his favorite brunette witch. The belle of the team as he often referred to her.

"Okay team, everyone ready for practice?" asked Oliver as he finished his traditional speech.

He gazed around the locker room to see half of the team was asleep, while the other half were just lost in their own thoughts. Katie sometimes felt sorry for Oliver, but considering Quidditch was such a passion of his, she didn't feel sorry for long. After all, all he ever thought of was Quidditch. He gave an annoyed sigh at his teammates. "EVERYONE UP!" he yelled causing everyone to jolt upright.

They all filled their way onto the Quidditch pitch and began to practice formations, plays, passing, scoring, everything and anything Oliver wanted the entire team to know it by heart. Katie, Alicia, and Angelina were all practicing scoring while Oliver blocked. The three girls formed an arrow shape, with Katie at the top. Her eyes narrowed at she came closer towards Oliver. He was a wonderful keeper, she'd admit, but he didn't think as fast as she did. He stayed perfectly positioned in the middle goal post. As Katie drew nearer, he followed her every move, watching closely for how she'd score a goal. With one swift movement, she veered right and as she suspected Oliver copied her. Quickly, she tossed the quaffle through the left goal post, making Oliver miss the shot.

Alicia clapped her friend on the back and beamed at her. Angelina was now in possession of the quaffle. She was testing out her reverse pass to Alicia. Instead, the quaffle smacked Katie right in the face. Angie began to apologize perversely to her friend as Katie couldn't help but laugh hysterically as she did her best to stop the blood flow. "I'll take her to the hospital wing Oliver," Fred yelled as he flew towards her.

He made sure she made it to the ground without falling over or off of her broom from her laughter. "Do you really have to get hurt every practice?" he teased as he conjured a cloth to help Katie stop the bleeding.

"It's not my fault," she protested as she took the cloth.

"You're a magnet to injuries, so it is your fault."

Katie pouted and Fred just shook his head at the disgruntled witch. Her pin-straight brown hair was beginning to get some blood in it. He frowned at her and stopped at stone bench. "Sit," he told her.

Perplexed, she sat and watched as Fred pulled his wand out and began to remove the cloth. "Don't you dare Frederick Gideon Weasley," she snapped glaring at the now grinning ginger.

"You underestimate me Katherine Elizabeth Bell. Do you really think I'd hurt you any more then you already are."

She didn't answer him. She knew he wouldn't, but she didn't tell him that. Instead, she gave him an aggravated look and snatched the cloth back from him. Fred let out a sigh and pointed his wand at her nose. "Episkey," he said before she could cover her nose with the cloth.

Almost instantly, her nose was healed and the bleeding had ceased. "Scourgify," he added almost lazily with another flick of his wand.

The blood was clear from her face, robes, and hair. "Figured we wouldn't want to annoy Madame Pomfrey over a little broken nose."

Katie took her hand and placed it gingerly on her nose. There didn't seem to be any trace of blood nor was there pain when she touched it. "Thanks," she murmured in a daze.

"Anytime love."

Fred took a seat next to Katie. "Care to skive off the rest of practice?" he asked mischievously.

She laughed and beamed at him. "Sure."

They made their way back towards the locker room to grab their clothes and ran up towards the Gryffindor common room. They laughed over the reaction Oliver would have if he knew they were skipping the 'precious' practices that they had. They both decided to change out of their Quidditch uniform and meet each other outside of the Fat Lady's portrait in five minutes. By the time Katie got there, Fred was already waiting and flirting with two second year girls, who were more than overjoyed. He said something to the pair of them which caused them to erupt in giggles.

"Going for younger girls Fred?" she asked lightheartedly as the little blonde he was talking to blushed furiously.

"You know it Katie. I prefer them to be younger," he said with a wink.

She laughed and they began to walk down towards the grounds. They chatted about their classes, Katie's plans for after Hogwarts, and the joke shop idea that Fred and George were tossing around. He swung his arm over her shoulder as they walked down by the lake. "Do you think Oliver will be angry with us when he finds out we skipped the rest of practice."

"You mean if he finds out," corrected Fred. "Besides, it's not like he cares since we do it every other practice. Which is pretty often now that I think about it."

Katie shook her head and chuckled. "Why is it you always offer to take me to the hospital wing anyway?"

"Think of it as tradition."

"Is it also tradition to skive off every other practice?"

"Ah, isn't it obvious love?" he asked teasingly.

"I'm oblivious to the obvious Fred."

He chuckled and they both came to a stop. A slight breeze blew a lock of Katie's hair in her hazel eyes. Carefully he brushed it away and grinned at her. She felt her face warm at Fred's touch and for an instant, without thinking, she kissed him.

The fact that she had just kissed her best mate surprised her more than Fred. She quickly broke away from his lips, blushing furiously. Fred had an amused sort of expression on his face as he shook his head at her. "And you think I'm thick."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason I've been taking you to the hospital wing every time you're hurt is because I like you, you silly girl."

Her hazel eyes met his blue eyes. Katie flung her arms around the ginger boy's neck and kissed him once more. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist and they swayed on the spot, enjoying the moment.

"When's the next Quidditch practice?" Katie murmured against his lips as they broke apart.

"Next Saturday."

A mischievous grin formed on both of their faces. They had, after all, just added a new addition to their tradition.

oOo

**Author's Note:** Just something I wanted to write while I had a tiny bit of writer's block while working on _You're Making it Come Alive_. Well, that and I really wanted to write some Fred/Katie for a while. I just figured I'd have some fun with one of my favorite pairings.


End file.
